Jesus and Divine Christology

by Brant James Pitre

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2024

Overview

Did Jesus see himself as divine?

Since the beginning of the quest for the historical Jesus, scholars have dismissed the idea that Jesus could have identified himself as God. Such high Christology is frequently depicted as an invention of the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon, centuries later. Yet recent research has shown that the earliest Jewish followers of Jesus already regarded him as divine.

Brant Pitre tackles this paradox in his bold new monograph. Pitre challenges this widespread assumption and makes a robust case that Jesus did consider himself divine. Carefully explicating the Gospels in the context of Second Temple Judaism, Pitre shows how Jesus used riddles, questions, and scriptural allusions to reveal the apocalyptic secret of his divinity. Moreover, Pitre explains how Jesus acts as if he is divine in both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John. Carefully weighing the historical evidence, Pitre argues that the origins of early high Christology can be traced to the historical Jesus’s words and actions.

Jesus and Divine Christology sheds light on long-neglected yet key evidence that the historical Jesus saw himself as divine. Scholars and students of the New Testament—and anyone curious about the Jewish context of early Christianity—will find Pitre’s argument a necessary and provocative corrective to a critically underexamined topic.

Key Features

• Sheds light on long-neglected yet key evidence that the historical Jesus saw himself as divine
• Shows how Jesus used riddles, questions, and scriptural allusions to reveal the apocalyptic secret of his divinity
• Explains how Jesus acts as if he is divine in both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John

Contents

• 1. The Problem
• 2. The Epiphany Miracles
• 3. The Riddles of Jesus’s Divinity
• 4. The Apocalyptic Secret
• 5. Crucified for Blasphemy
• 6. Implications
• Acknowledgments
• Indexes

Product Details

• Title: Jesus and Divine Christology
• Author: Brant James Pitre
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 408
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Divinity; Jesus Christ › Person and offices
• ISBNs: 9780802875129, 0802875122
• Resource ID: LLS:JSSDVNCHRSTLGY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-08-15T17:35:24Z

About Brant James Pitre

Brant Pitre Brant Pitre is Professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also the author of Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile; Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper; and Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.